


Home

by Blizzaurus



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: A little angst in the beginning, Domestic Bliss, F/M, Fluff, Getting Back Together, Pregnancy, but it gets better, this is my expanded bunker fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 08:26:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12229194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blizzaurus/pseuds/Blizzaurus
Summary: Without Abby, Marcus' world is as grey as the walls of his small room in the bunker. Surprisingly enough, one fried implant, a bit of love advice, several mishaps, and some patience end up making underground life far happier than he could've ever anticipated.





	Home

Life in the bunker was tolerable. Even when the food couldn't look any less appealing if it was served on the floor, and when the fluorescent lights stung his eyes the first thing in the morning, he still had no cause for a complaint. Anything was better than the alternative.

But life without Abby was miserable.

There was a tiny part that hates himself for getting used to so good. Even if he could have made existence without her comfortable, her brief, loving presence had left such an impact in his life that everything looked bland and colorless when she is not beside him. He couldn't deny that her love was the best thing that had ever happened to him, but it was slowly starting to feel like a curse too. The woman who bewitched him wouldn't even look at him in the eye anymore, and it was slowly killing him.

He only saw her in the hallways. It was impossible not to come across her, their living space didn't offer the privilege of disappearing into the masses. There was a brief flicker of something in her eyes as she noticed him, but every time she turned her head away and tilted her jaw up. She walked defiantly past him, and Marcus had to wonder what would happen if he ran after her, grabbed her hand and apologized for her.

But he wouldn't.

Even if it brought her back to him, made her slowly love him again, he wouldn't apologize for saving her life. He would never forgive himself for depriving the world of Abby Griffin just because she had asked him to do so with love in her misty eyes.

So he resigned himself to his fate. He did his job, ate, and slept alone in one of the small rooms Octavia gave him and the other clan leaders. The bed was too cold and large without Abby, and eventually, he decided to spend his nights working, writing plans for the bunker's functionality and tried not to think about Abby or what she must be feeling about Clarke's unclear fate.

More than anything Marcus wanted to go to the women's bedroom hall, crawl into her bed, fold her in his arms and comfort her. He swallowed the bitter lump in his throat. Even if he managed to get to her past the guards making sure no men slip into the hall, she would only look at him with that cold look in her eyes he remembered far too well from their days on Ark. Marcus wasn't sure he could bear it.

So he kept his distance. He convinced himself that it was better that way. He would only cause her more pain with his presence.

* * *

The fights were a problem.

Any fool knew that one couldn't just shove twelve clans with long histories of grudges and conflict under the same roof and expect them to start behaving themselves for the sake of the common good the minute the door closed behind them.

The situation was quite the opposite. Not a day went by when Marcus didn't walk into the dining hall without seeing two men at each other's throats. For other people, it had become such an everyday occurrence that they no longer lifted an eyebrow if a brawl broke out. They just adjusted their routes so that they wouldn't end up between a pair of swinging fists.

Marcus didn't have that luxury.

He had decided to keep his old post as the guard in addition to his clan leader duties. Octavia hadn't thought it was a good idea, but Marcus had insisted. He hadn't wanted to seem above everyone else with his separate rooming and leader status. A regular job like the one of the guard would keep him closer to his people.

The drawback was that occasionally he got a fist in the face.

The bright side was that when he did, he got to waltz into medical with a good reason and got a glimpse of Abby.

* * *

Jackson kept sighing while stitching a cut on his forehead. "One of these days you're going to get seriously hurt."

"I'd like to think that with every punch I take I gain more respect," Marcus said, trying not to grimace while Jackson sewed. "I'm hoping that eventually just my presence will shut any fight down."

"Or in the more likely scenario, you end up in the med with your head bashed in."

"That may always be a possibility, but that's not really your problem."

"It is hers," Jackon said and gestured with the tilt of his shoulder to behind him.

Marcus turned his head and saw Abby across the room, sorting out the medical cabinets while occasionally shooting a glare at him.

"She doesn't like it when you come here roughed up like that," Jackson explained.

Marcus watched Abby until the woman turned her head away, an angry flush on her cheeks. "At least she cares," Marcus said, realizing a minute too late that he revealed something deeply personal to Jackson.

But based on his pitying look, he knew about him and Abby. That was another problem with the bunker. Everyone suddenly knew everyone's business. Marcus wouldn't be surprised if everyone from Skaikru to Trishanakru gossiped about his love life (or lack thereof).

Marcus sighed, and Jackson kept working without saying another word. The silence was only disrupted when they heard a loud clank as a chair hit the floor.

Marcus wrenched his head around just in time to see Abby rushing to the back of the medical, and as the door slammed behind her, he heard the unmistakable sound of vomit hitting the sink. He was immediately up on his feet. Curiously, no one in the medical batted an eye at this. Other patients just rolled their eyes and not even Jackson reacted at first, only throwing a panicked glance at the door once he noticed Marcus' terrified expression.

"Abby, are you okay?" Marcus called out and the only answer he got was more sounds of vomiting. Before he could take a step towards her Jackson hds wrapped his hand around his arm.

"She's completely fine," he said with a nervous smile on his face.

"Fine?" Marcus exclaimed, his eyes wildly bouncing between Jackson and the door Abby had disappeared behind. "She just threw up her breakfast!"

"Happens to the best of us," Jackson muttered before trying to coax him to sit down again.

"How long has this been going on?" Marcus asked, quickly scanning his mind for all the glimpses of Abby he has caught over these past few weeks. Every time she had looked pale and there had been bags under her eyes, but Marcus had thought she was just grieving. What if there was something more?

"Just for a little while," Jackson tried to console. "It's nothing serious, and as her doctor, I'm sure of it."

"But there is something going on with her," Marcus said, his sentence formed as a question.

Jackson kept silent, quickly finishing up his needlework with suspicious haste. "You're done."

"I think I know what it is," Marcus said, the memory of Raven mentioning "a cure" on the radio flashing through his mind.

Jackson staggered up from his seat and turns his back on him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Am I right Jackson? Is she—"

"Stop that!" Jackson snapped. Marcus raised his eyebrows at the high pitch of his voice. "I know what you're trying, and I'm not giving you anything," he continued, fumbling angrily with the medical equipment on the table in front of him.

"I'm not trying anything," Marcus said, utterly confused by the man's behavior. "Can't a man be interested in his ex-girlfriend's condition?"

Jackson turned around. "You know, don't you?" he said, squinting his eyes.

"Do I?"

Jackson seemed to come to some sort of a conclusion after studying Marcus' face an uncomfortably long time. "You do know. And now you are just trying to make me confirm it. Too bad. I promised Abby I wouldn't tell."

Marcus rose up from his chair and is approachds Jackson with his arms crossed. "Tell me what?"

Jackson looked slightly intimidated by his towering stature but remained unwavering. He pinched his mouth into a thin line, not emitting one word.

Their staring match was interrupted by Niylah who emerged from behind the curtain with a datapad in her hand. Not noticing the tension in the room, she broke into a small smile as she saw Marcus.

"Chancellor Kane, what a pleasure! I haven't offered you my congratulations yet, have—?"

Jackson made her close her mouth with one stern look Marcus couldn't quite interpret. Niylah turned her gaze on the floor, her cheeks red in shame. "I'm sorry, I forgot."

"I don't understand. Why do you want to congratulate me?" Marcus asked and in an instant found himself pushed out of the door by Jackson. "Just because you have excellent medical records," he said quickly. "Barely any cholesterol."

And with that, the door closed in his face with a clank and Marcus felt more confused than ever in his life.

* * *

A couple of days later Marcus watched with a soft smile on his face as the water cup circulated among the kids sitting around him.

"This is silly," he heard a little voice whisper, and couldn't help but lift an amused eyebrow. It seemed not so long ago when he was thinking the same.

"Remind me again kids, why do we do this?" he said with a teasing voice as the final recipient of the cup got up and approached the tree. Sadly, the sapling growing in the pot next to him the child proceeded to water was not his mother's tree. It was a small tree he and Indra had dug up just hours before the radiation levels had risen to critical, not having the time to go back to retrieve the Eden tree.

"It represents hope," the children said in unison.

"That's right. It's good to have a little piece of our old home in this bunker. It gives up hope that we'll get up there again."

"I miss home," a little girl pouted. Marcus smiled, rising up from his position at the center of the kids.

"I know you do," he said, crouching down in front of her. "I miss it too. But don't you feel a little less homesick when you look at the tree? It's a promise that you will see hundreds of similar ones yet again in just a few short years."

When the girl attempted a small smile, Marcus gave her hair a tender ruffle and earned himself a giggle. He rose slowly up and let his eyes travel across the parents and other adults leaning against the wall.

"It's important for us to remain hopeful, if only for the sake—"

His eyes fell on the woman standing by the door, watching him with her mouth slightly open, something unidentifiable in her eyes. _Abby._ Marcus was startled at the unexpected sight, and for a moment he forgot how to breathe.

"—of the children," he managed to finish, his gaze never leaving Abby. At his words her hand did an involuntary, barely noticeable motion; her fingers brushed her stomach. It was a curious gesture, but he didn't let his mind linger on it for too long. Instead, he was just consumed by an overwhelming relief of seeing her again.

"Excuse me," he smiled at his little listeners and made his way towards Abby who was now looking down at her feet, rubbing her arm in a rather awkward fashion.

"Hi," Marcus greeted her carefully, halting at a respectable distance from her.

"Hi," she said with a small voice. "So, you've taken over after Vera?"

"Somebody had to," he smiled. "Although I can never truly be a beacon of hope she was."

"I think you can," Abby said quietly, then lowered her gaze.

Silence fell upon them.

Marcus had too many things he wanted to say to her. _I love you. I miss you. I wish you'd forgive me._

But he didn't say any of them. Instead, he just waited, patiently, for Abby to tell him what she wanted to say while adopting as warm an expression and a posture as he could muster.

"Th- There's something I need to tell you," she stammered, and Marcus' brow furrowed in concern.

It wasn't a surprise that his mind immediately jumps to the worst possible conclusion.

"Are you alright?" he asked, panic throbbing in his voice. He cursed himself for not wrenching any more answers from Jackson before he had chased him away from medical. There had to be something wrong, and he would never forgive himself if he had let it slip from him that Abby was sick when he could've been by her side all this time, fighting tooth and nail to eradicate whatever the sickness consuming her was.

"I'm quite alright," she said, a trace of something fond in her face when she looked at Marcus' pale face. But it quickly faded away, and her expression grew nervous again. Her gaze darted from his eyes to behind him, and as Marcus turned around he saw the children and their parents are watching them, some of them with strangely knowing smiles on their faces.

"Maybe this is not the best moment," she said quickly, her hands pulling the hem of her shirt lower.

"Just name a time and a place," Marcus said softly.

Abby hesitated for a moment before answering, and just then a small child wandered to her. "Spechou," he congratulated her, smiling an innocent smile up at her.

"I have to go," Abby said, her face red as a beet.

"Abby," he tried but the woman is already out of the door. The father of the small boy came to him with an apologetic smile on his face.

"Ai nou get in yu houmon don fulop. Spechou."

Marcus couldn't stop looking at the open door through which Abby had just disappeared. He kept thinking about her distraught face, unable to focus on the Trigedasleng words, his mind running blank when he tried to process them. "Hm?"

The man took that as a lack of understanding on Marcus' part. He scratched his head, wondering how to bridge their communication gap. "Good father," he eventually said, slapping Marcus on the shoulder with a broad smile on his face.

Marcus was left with an unsettling weight in his stomach as the puzzle pieces in his head started to slowly inch towards each other.

After the incident, it was impossible not to notice that people started whispering and smiling every time Abby walked by. It didn't escape him either that men seemed more and more unwilling to raise their hands against him when went to break up fights. He even started to hear apologies from them, and one man gave him an awkward hug, throwing Marcus completely for a loop.

They were playing a joke on him. It was the only explanation that he allowed himself to consider.

Still, he couldn't stop his mind from lingering on the image Abby's fingers brushing her stomach while she had watched him.

* * *

Marcus liked to take the last possible guard shift of the day.

Abby tended to be too busy in the medical to remember to eat during the day and usually tiptoed into the dining hall when everyone else headed to bed. It calmed him to stay on guard while she ate; he both relished to see her take care of herself and felt the need to protect her from any possible rowdy bunker residents.

But night-time was usually calm and there were never too many people bickering in the hall. Marcus leant against the wall and watched her, and every now and then her eyes flicker towards him too. If his presence bothered her, she hadn't at least voiced it during all these quiet nights.

But this night was not one of those. He let his guard down for one second when Indra contacted him through his radio, and when he lifted his eyes two men were throwing punches at each other. When one of the men managed to draw blood, Marcus let out a deep sigh and told Indra to bring some backup and a medic. Then he started marching towards the men, calling out stern commands in both Trigedasleng and English.

He should've been quicker.

Abby had abandoned her meal and was walking towards the two men. He could only make out some of her yells. "—immature — two grown men — absolutely disgusting — I'm not going to fix you up at medical-"

She stepped between the men and Marcus' blood curdled. He could see in agonizing slow motion how one of the men gripped Abby's tiny frame and pushed her violently down to the floor like she was a rag doll. This brought shocked gasps from the diners around them.

"What the hell are you all looking at?" the man growled as the people look at him in disbelief. "I don't care whether the bitch is pr-," He started but didn't get to finish his sentence before Marcus' fist connected with his jaw.

The man let out a pained roar, stumbling two steps back while holding his jaw, giving Marcus an opportunity reconsider how wise the action he took truly had been. The opportunity was not seized. His head felt oddly fuzzy and he could only feel red-hot anger coursing through his veins which made him advance towards the man again who was now looking at him with rage flaming in his eyes.

Marcus managed to evade the first swing of the fist but wasn't fast enough to escape from the one that hit his noise with a violent crack. The pain was almost blinding, but still he staggered up and clutched at the shoulders of the man, ready to buck his head against his. But before he could do that, he heard a violent whizz and then the man was deflating in his arms. He let go of him, and his motionless body fell on the ground with a loud thump.

He turned around and saw Indra standing above the man, a shocklash in her hand.

She took a look at Marcus' disheveled uniform and bloody face, raising her brow. "You could've just used this," she remarked and just now Marcus remembered the weapon in his belt.

He looked around, gradually waking up from his haze to the outside world. The backup had arrived, and a lot of people had gathered around the scene. He made a dismissive hand-gesture towards the crowds, spat out the blood from his mouth, and started searching for Abby with his eyes.

At first, he couldn't see her because Jackson was crouched down in front of her and exchanging hurried, hushed words with her. When the young doctor shifted, Marcus saw Abby and his throat constricted. Her face had turned ashen, her breathing was uneven and her cheeks were stained with wet streaks. But what truly made his stomach plummet was the way her hands are wrapped around her abdomen, clutching it in desperate panic while Jackson was trying to pry her fingers away as if...

The weak, strangled cry that came from his throat was almost inhumane as the realization hit him.

He furiously pushed his way past the spectators to Abby who was now whispering something, her eyes pinched shut while Jackson examines her. Marcus tried to crouch down to her side, but Jackson held his hand up as a warning not to get any closer to her.

"We need to get you to medical," he said calmly to Abby. "Nate!" He called out.

 _Is there anything I can do?_ Marcus wanted to ask but was unable to speak or move. The situation was too nightmarish for him to start to even process it.

He ends up watching, helpless, as Miller carried Abby in his arms away from the hall. Only when a woman standing near him offered him a napkin with a frown on her face, Marcus realized that his face was still bleeding.

He wiped the blood from his face and rushed after them, his heart never having felt heavier in his chest.

* * *

He waited for what seemed to be an eternity behind the door of the medical before it finally cracked open.

"Are Abby and the baby okay?" was the first thing that came from his mouth as Jackson stepped out.

The man didn't look even surprised at his question, just tired. There was no need for pretense anymore. Abby was pregnant.

"They are both well," Jackson said, attempting a small smile, and Marcus almost crumbled to the floor from relief, his only support being Jackson's shoulders his hands had fallen to clutch.

"Is the baby mine?" was his next question.

Jackson furrowed his brow. "Of course it is. And as a favor to both you and Abby, I'm not telling her you just asked me that."

Marcus' hand flew up to run frantic fingers through his hair. "I didn't— she would've told me— I don't understand," he mumbled, earning himself a sympathetic look from Jackson.

He glanced over the doctor's shoulder, searching for any sign of Abby. "Let me see her."

Jackson looked at him, hesitant. "I'm not sure if she wants to see you. I think she's still mad at you."

" _Please_ , Jackson," he said, and hated how desperate he sounded. But he truly wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't get to go to her right now.

Jackson let out a deep sigh and stepped out of his way. "I'm only doing this for her best—" he said but Marcus had already disappeared into the medical.

When he quickly found his way into the room where they were holding Abby and laid his eyes on her, it was clear as day for him. Abby didn't notice him at first, she was lying in bed with her hands resting on her belly with a tired, relieved smile on her face. She was glowing.

He didn't understand how he had not known. Motherhood shone through her like a pearl, and the tender curve of her lips as she gazed down on her stomach halts Marcus at the door. He felt hesitant to even approach this beautiful sight.

"Abby," he carefully greeted, taking a step closer.

Abby was visibly startled by his voice, and her hands dropped from her stomach.

"Marcus," she responded but didn't lift her head to meet his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," she said, attempting a small smile. "It was just a rough fall, no need to worry."

His heart dropped down to his stomach when he noticed she still tried to pretend. Marcus drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Abby, I _know_."

A silence.

"Jackson?" Abby asked after a moment.

Marcus nodded.

Abby let her head drop on her pillow with a sigh. "At least he tried his best. I don't blame him for telling you though, you deserve to know after what happened today.

Marcus took a step closer, not dropping his gaze from her stomach. The swell was barely noticeable, but it was there and Marcus couldn't look away from it like he had forced himself to do countless of times before when he had let his gaze linger on her abdomen a little bit too long during his guard shifts, just wondering.

Abby noticed his stare, and when Marcus' fingers involuntarily inched forward, she granted him a permission with her nod.

He placed his hand on her stomach and let it rest there. He brushed his thumb over the fabric of her shirt while gazing down fondly.

"How?" fell from his lips.

"The EMP fried my implant as well as my chip. I misinterpreted my symptoms of pregnancy for Raven's illness."

"How far along are you?"

"Three months."

Marcus couldn't hide the hurt in his voice the next time he opened his mouth.

"You are three months pregnant and didn't plan to tell me."

Abby fell silent at that, her eyes shifting down to avoid meeting his gaze.

"How did you suppose I'd react when you started showing?" Marcus continued. "Keep my mouth shut and stay away from you? Watch from afar how your belly grows? Not be there for you when you go into labor?"

He looked down, and the next words came out quiet and sorrowful.

"I would've done that for you if you had only asked."

"I wouldn't have done that," Abby objected. "I would've never been that cruel."

"But why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know how you would react," she answered with a weak voice. "I was scared you wouldn't want a child. But now I realize how foolish it was for me to think that. You'd make a wonderful father. But..."

Abby didn't have to finish the sentence. The words hang heavy in the air between them regardless if they're voiced or not. _I still can't forgive you._

"Is there nothing I can do to earn your—?" Marcus tried.

"You can answer me this. If I hadn't been on the list, would you have made me stay anyway?"

He already knew the answer in his heart.

"I would've given you my spot," he said solemnly.

Based on Abby's weary expression this was not the answer she was hoping for. She let out a deep sigh.

"But what if I truly had been ill? I would've taken a spot that could've gone to a healthy person. I would've hated you for doing that to me. And I did hate you, for a moment, before..."

She lowered her hand on her stomach with a wistful expression on her face.

"I'm grateful that you saved our child's life," she said, her hands gently resting on her stomach. "But I'm still disappointed in you. The decision I made wasn't easy. I gave it a lot of thought and I needed you to trust me enough to accept it and let me go."

"I've never been gladder that I didn't," Marcus murmured.

"That's not the point. The next time there's a tough situation, I'm not sure anymore if you'd respect my decisions. Could I even trust you to do that?" Abby paused, sighing. "At the moment I don't know."

Marcus swallowed a lump in his throat.

"I just need time to think about it," she said. "Away from you."

Her voice was not cold, just determined in her usual stubborn way, and Marcus knew there was no way he could change her mind.

"I understand," he said, lowering his eyes. "But more than anything I just to be part of this. I want this child. You know that, don't you?"

Abby nodded.

"Please, let me be there for you," he pleaded, grabbing her hand. A gesture was not entirely unwelcome as he could feel Abby's fingers carefully wrapping around his own.

"I was never going to deny you that," Abby said with a quiet voice. "You are the father of my child, and I intend to keep you as such."

Marcus dipped his head down, pressing a grateful kiss on her knuckles. There's softness in her eyes as he released her hands, and he looked away in almost abashed manner.

"I know I'm not the best of men," he sighed. "But if you give me a chance, I'll try to such a good father. I'll give it my everything."

"I don't doubt that," she said, and her words drip with so much fondness that it's hard to remember that this soft voice was not something he had the privilege of hearing anymore. "She will be so loved."

"She?" Marcus turned his head, a hesitant smile flickering across his features.

Abby started smiling too. "Just a motherly hunch."

Then it truly hit him. He was going to a father. Abby was carrying his child, and the rush of exhilarating warmth he felt in his chest at the news shook his whole body. It felt unreal and undeserved, and he wondered which angel had smiled upon him because it would've been so easy for the universe to take this away from them but it hadn't happened, and Marcus felt tears brimming in his eyes at the pure relief.

Abby seemed to recognize the emotion on his face because her hand gave his own a tender squeeze. For a moment there was just quiet happiness and understanding between them until Marcus brought the pleasant silence to an abrupt halt.

"There's no way you're sleeping in the women's bedroom hall from now on."

"Why not?" Abby asked, wrinkling her forehead.

"You and the baby won't have enough room. I'm giving you my quarters."

This utterance was followed by a long, frustrating argument which eventually ended in Marcus contacting Indra with his radio, asking her to help him move his stuff out, while Abby clawed at his arm, still trying to spout counter-arguments at him that started and ended with "I couldn't possibly accept this."

Eventually, Abby ended up grudgingly moving to his room, while Marcus moved his stuff to the men's bedroom hall. The living space was crowded and loud, but still Marcus felt more content than in a long time when he settled down on his bunk that night between two men snoring like a pair of chainsaws. It didn't even matter if he couldn't get a wink of sleep. It would've been impossible to let his eyes close anyway, now that he knew how drastically his life was about to change in six months.

"I'm going to be a father," he keeps murmuring to no one in particular. But repeating it didn't make it any easier to truly grasp.

* * *

Marcus did his best to help Abby make the grey 25 square meters a home for her and the baby.

First, he tried to sneak into the room while Abby was at work to paint the room with a livelier color, but Abby caught him in the act.

"Let me at least help," she sighed and snatched the paint roller from him. They proceeded to paint every single wall with a different color as their visions clashed, but Abby didn't seem to mind. She just flashed him a smile when they admired the chaotic result, a streak of blue on her cheek which Marcus couldn't help but tease her about. As a revenge, he ended up having to go the clan leader meeting with his face mottled with multiple color combinations and sensed a tiny part of his dignity crumbling away, but he didn't particularly care. He could only think of Abby's bright eyes while she had attacked him with her paintbrush.

Next, he recruited Indra to build a crib with him. The woman had surprisingly good intel on how to build sturdy furniture and ended up taking over the project as she realized how hopeless Marcus was with welding. The only thing she allowed Marcus to do was carrying the crib to Abby's room all by himself.

"I could use a little help," he grunted under the heavy weight while Indra just rolled her eyes at him.

"Your niron is not going to be half as impressed if I help you carry. This way she might even think that you built it by yourself."

* * *

Abby watched in awe while Indra gave the crib one last violent rattle, and after seeing it remain steady on the floor, she turned to Abby with a pleased expression on her face.

"Trust me, even if the child inherits all of Kane's strength and boneheadedness, it won't fail."

Abby let out a small smile at that which she tries to cover with her mouth, while Marcus just flashed Indra a cool look.

"We should probably get going," he said, running his fingers through his hair, already looking at the door.

"Wait," Abby said, her fingers wrapping around his arm. Marcus started at the touch, and his widened eyes shot downwards to Abby's hand.

"Thank you, Marcus," she said with a soft voice, bringing her other hand up to cup his cheek. "It's lovely."

Marcus' throat felt suddenly very tight when he saw Abby rise up to her tiptoes, her eyes directed at his lips. She planted a soft, lingering kiss on the corner of his mouth and Marcus let his eyes fall closed. For few seconds he relished the feel of Abby's warm lips and her hand on his cheek until she far too soon retreated. Her palm remained on his cheek while she watched him with something in her eyes, gratitude Marcus supposes. She brushed her thumb over his skin one last time before she looked behind Marcus, grew flustered and dropped her hand

Marcus turned his head to see the reason for her retreat. Indra was looking at them with her eyebrows raised, an-ever-so-slight smirk flickering on her face.

"Right," Marcus said and turned to Abby. "See you in the dining hall."

"See you at the dining hall," she responded, and Marcus had to force himself to turn away from her warm eyes and walk out of the door.

Indra followed him out, and Marcus could feel her stare boring a hole in the back of his head. He fought the urge to brush the spot on his cheek where the touch of her lips still lingered. He felt vulnerable under his friend's gaze. He wouldn't want anyone to witness how much pathetic hope he held in his heart for Abby's forgiveness.

"She's starting to warm up to you," Indra said as if she read his mind.

"You don't know that," Marcus huffed, quickening his pace. But Indra's strides were long, and she caught up with him without any effort.

"You are just overly cautious," she continued. "You're acting like she's your Heda and you can only admire her from afar. But that's not a smart tactic if you want to make her fall in love with you again."

"Let me guess, you have advice for me?" Marcus sighed.

"I do. You shouldn't have stiffened up like a practice dummy when she touched you. You should've swooped her in your arms and kissed all of her doubts away."

"All the while you were in the room?" he chuckled.

"I would've been polite and left."

Marcus just rolled his eyes at her answer but didn't reveal how dangerously close he had come to doing just what Indra had suggested as he had felt the light touch of her lips on his skin. He swore his hands were still tingling from the urge to grab her face and direct her lips to his own instead of his cheek.

* * *

When he crawled back to bed that night, Abby was on his mind. It was impossible not to think about her, her smile, her soft lips, the touch of her hands, or the warmth of her naked body pressed against his in Polis when he lay in his cold, hard bed in a hall full of snoring grounder men.

Just as he had grown used to these lonely nights, Abby had to go and kiss him, and he had been woken to the realization of how much he truly ached for her.

It was ridiculous. She offered him one kind gesture and he spent a sleepless night fantasizing about her. He felt like an idiot for getting his hopes up. Abby was no closer to welcoming him back in her arms than the whole bunker was from reaching even a moderate peace between all the clans.

But still, Indra's words lingered in his mind.

It was true that Abby had started to adopt a warmer attitude towards him. One day she had even approached him and Indra in the dining hall, craned her neck over his shoulder and taken a long whiff of his grey meal.

"Smells good," she had said, or something along those lines, Marcus had been too focused on the strand of her hair brushing his cheek to listen to her more carefully.

Indra had called that a signal after had Abby left. "Soon," she had promised him. Marcus had only looked at her in anguish. "How soon?" he had asked, desperately, as if Indra truly could read Abby's mind just from her innocent-enough actions.

"Sooner, if you're more confident," she had answered, then muttered something about his lack of spine or maybe something about the awful taste of the food. Marcus wasn't sure because just then Abby had smiled at him and waved him goodbye from across the hall.

Perhaps testing the ice would be at least worth a shot.

* * *

The next morning he tried to casually lean against the wall near the entrance of medical, feeling utterly ridiculous. Every single smiling pair of eyes that took notice of him seemed to sense exactly why he was there, and he didn't like it one bit. Marcus was ready to throttle the next person who gave him the thumbs-up.

When Abby finally stepped out of the door, Marcus froze and failed to open his mouth. Abby walked straight by him.

"Maps!" he called out after her like an utter idiot.

Abby halted and turned around with her brow knotted in confusion. When she recognized him, there was a flash of delight in her eyes which gave Marcus courage to form his next sentence more eloquently.

"Cadogan had a huge collection of world atlases in his personal library. They are some of the few books that haven't been taken yet, so I thought maybe you'd like a map put up on your wall as decoration. They're beautiful, hand-drawn maps," he added.

"That sounds like a great idea," Abby smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

"We could go there now," he said quickly.

Abby blinked, and for a moment Marcus feared that her answer would be no. He was not quite sure how to proceed after a "no."

"Okay," Abby said, and at that moment it was the most beautiful word in the English language. "Lead the way."

As they walked towards the library and aome across a crowded hallway, Marcus lowered his hand to her shoulder out of an old habit as they pushed their way through. After they were in the clear, he realized what he had done and dropped his hand. Interestingly enough, Abby didn't seem too fazed.

A bit later Marcus "accidentally" brushed his hand against her back. When there was no sign of protest, Marcus allowed himself to dwell on Indra's advice.

_Be confident._

He took a big gulp and moved his hand towards Abby. He lowered it on the small of her back and held his breath in anticipation of her reaction. Abby blinked at the contact, then glanced at Marcus, her mouth open, and her eyes hesitant.

That was it. He had ruined everything. He was going to kill Indra.

But to his surprise, Abby's mouth fell closed, and curved into a slight smile. She let him guide her with his hand on her back, and Marcus barely dared to breathe in fear of breaking the moment.

Eventually, they reached the library, and Marcus grudgingly drew back his hand. They walked past the shelves that have been cleaned up from books during the early days in the bunker and continue all the way back to the library where most of the books remained untouched. Abby marveled at their size and decorations, shaking her head in disbelief.

"How has no one claimed these yet?"

"Technically they are claimed, but I doubt Jaha minds," Marcus said, starting to pile up the most beautiful of the books in front of Abby.

Abby's gaze grew even more curious. "How has he managed to keep people from taking them?"

"Simple," Marcus said and opened up one of the books. A leaflet fell from between the pages and Abby snatched it. Marcus watched how a disbelieving smile started to creep across her features as she read Jaha's writing.

_If you opened this book, you are already on the right track by being interested in Cadogan's personal collection. Come find me at my office and we can comparate notes of our findings. Cooperation is the fastest way to expose his true, grand plans for the humanity._

_T.J._

"People tend to stay away from this part of the library the very moment they come across one of these little notes," Marcus said, grinning, and glanced at her. "I can't blame them, this 'T.J.' seems like a guy coming to murder you and your family if you disrespect his idol."

Marcus inwardly grimaced at the silly quip he just made. If it hadn't been clear to Abby how pathetically hard he was trying before, it sure was now.

Abby let out a giggle. At first he was not sure if he heard her correctly because that lovely sound had to be lost for him forever, but then she did it again while covering her mouth with her hands, the crinkles in the corners of her eyes betraying her smile and that simple sight had the power to invigorate his whole soul. It was a struggle not to whisk the woman in his arms, twirl her around until more lovely giggles spring up for her throat and kiss her laughing mouth until they were both out of breath like a pair of giddy teenagers.

But instead, he did something even more idiotic.

"I love you," he blurted out.

Abby's smile faded.

Realizing his tactlessness, he tried to save the situation. "I take that back," he said quickly.

When Abby's brow almost rose up to her hairline, Marcus pinched his eyes shut and tried to find words to explain himself.

"I mean, of course I love you, you know that. But it was idiotic for me to blurt it out like that, and I've obviously made you upset. I'm sorry."

"It's not that," Abby said quietly. "It's just that you haven't said that to me before."

Marcus could only muster a surprised "oh" at that. He scrunched up his brow.

"I haven't?"

Abby shook her head, and he thought about it for a moment, digging up his mind for memories where Abby had made him feel like this, his heart almost bursting at its seams as he had lad his eyes on her. He recalled countless of moments but didn't remember ever actually voicing the words. He was surprised at his own restraint.

"Okay, now I've said it," he said, gulping, feeling awkward tension falling like a thick, oppressive blanket upon them. Of course, he'd ruin the first time he said "I love you" by just blurting it out of sheer gratitude that she had laughed at his joke.

As the silence continues, Abby was suddenly very interested in one of the maps. The next time she spoke the subject was something completely different, and unexpected.

"The baby has started kicking."

His heart treacherously jumped at the news, and he felt a sudden rush of warmth at his chest before he realizes Abby's position. She was probably informing him merely because of a sense of obligation, not because she'd truly want to share this with him.

"That's wonderful," he said, offering her a tight smile and shifting his gaze on the map, careful not to glance at her. He wondered if she knew how much of like a stab it feels to discover a new detail of her approaching motherhood from afar.

"She likes to keep me awake by only doing it during night-time," Abby chuckled and Marcus felt the knife twisting deeper into his heart. "I just wondered... maybe you could sleep in my room for a couple of nights? I'd like you to be there if it happens again," she continued.

Marcus blinked, not knowing how to react.

"O- obviously you'd sleep on a mattress on the floor, I could get Jackson and Miller bring you one," she stammered, a flush of red dancing on her cheeks.

Now there was hope of a whole new magnitude tormenting his heart. He tried to extinguish it before he did something foolish like threw his hands around her. Marcus looked up at her slowly, not wanting to betray his overeagerness to accept the invitation.

"I'd like that."

He opened another large map for her to see, and if her fingers happened to brush his as they bent down to study the beautiful illustrations, he certainly didn't feel the need to voice a complaint.

* * *

The thin mattress on the stone-hard, cold door of his old quarters wasn't an ideal place for him to sleep but it didn't take long for him to drift off to the sound of Abby's soft breaths. Several hours later, a voice started to disrupt his slumber. "Marcus, wake up."

When he didn't immediately react to her voice, Abby reached down to shake his shoulder. "Marcus, it happened again."

He was startled awake.

"Is everything alright?" he immediately asked before he was even fully conscious. He studied Abby with his wild, worried eyes, and only the excited, happy expression on her face manages to calm him down, and fill him with tentative joy at the same time. It had been too long since the last time she had looked at him like that.

Marcus' gaze fell on Abby's stomach, around which her hands are protectively wrapped. She smiled down at her lap.

"I felt a kick."

Marcus clambered up on the bed so fast he almost stumbled on his feet. His hands fell on her round stomach hurriedly, as if the moment would be lost forever if he didn't move fast enough. No reason for such worry, for he felt a tiny thump beneath his palms almost immediately.

And just like that, he was in love.

There was a sound coming from his throat, something akin to an astonished gasp. There was a small, precious creature he helped to create growing in Abby's stomach, and Marcus already knew he would cherish her for the rest of his life.

"Hi, little buddy," he said when he felt another little kick. "You're quite a night owl, aren't you?"

Abby softly laughed as he laid his cheek against her skin to listen to the baby more closely. But now the only sound he heard was Abby's heartbeat. "I think she fell asleep," Marcus chuckled and lifted his overjoyed gaze to meet Abby's. His head turned hazy with exhilaration when he watched her fond smile, and suddenly he was back in Polis, looking into her loving eyes while they lay together in bed, and without thinking, he leaned forward and captured her lips in a quick kiss.

He realized his mistake a second later when Abby remained frozen under his touch. He drew his head back immediately and saw the frown on her face.

"I'm sorry," he said, and he truly meant it, his cheeks burning with shame.

"Marcus—"

"It's okay," he said. "I understand. I overstepped my boundaries, yet again."

He lowered himself from the bed, not allowing himself one last look at Abby, and settled down on the mattress. He proceeded to stare at the ceiling while inwardly cursing himself. _Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid._

If he were Abby, he would've already kicked himself out of the room. How was he supposed to give her space if he couldn't keep his words or his hands to himself?

But then something curious happened. Abby let her hand fall down from the bed to hang near Marcus' own. Her fingers grazed the floor in an inviting manner, and he felt the urge to grasp them. He shifted his hand that had been resting idly on the mattress closer to Abby's. When Abby didn't flinch or draw her hand back and just kept watching him with her dark eyes, Marcus took a risk and let his fingertips brush Abby's. As a response, Abby entwined their fingers and gave his hand a tender squeeze.

For a while they just lay there holding hands, Abby's hand reaching down and Marcus' lifted up. Marcus studied her face from his position on the mattress, seeking something, a little flicker of hope for his weary spirit.

Marcus watched, breathless, as Abby released a long-held back sob, and a tiny tear rolled over her cheek. His next motions felt like waded through a mist. He slowly rose, climbs up on the bed and hovered over her, as if he was just waiting for the woman to offer him full absolution before leaning forward and brushing away her tears.

"I forgive you" she whispered, a sound sweeter than anything he had ever heard.

In an instant, his hands are wrapped around her body and face buried in her neck, and he let a relieved sigh into her hair.

Abby started pressing kisses all over his face while murmuring "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," repeatedly against his skin. "I should've done this a lot sooner."

"It was worth the wait," Marcus smiled, wiping her tears away with his thumb.

Before he even had the time to react her lips crashed against his, and the kiss was so fervent and furious that Marcus forced himself to part before he grabbed Abby and deepened the kiss even further. He had to make sure of her feelings first.

"What does this mean? Do you take me back?"

"Yes," she smiled and Marcus answered with a broad, slightly dazed grin. Their lips locked again.. Abby's fingers twisted into his curls, bringing him closer. He was starting to feel dizzy, and he was not sure if it was because of her rough kisses, or because this was all a bit too much for his body after a four-month drought.

"But — we need — to take this — slow," she exhaled between their kisses. Marcus halted at that, but Abby surged forward in a yet another passionate kiss.

"We'll be friends first. Just friends," she said after they broke apart, breathless, her hand still cradling the back of his head.

"Okay," Marcus said, the word exhaled like a question as Abby started peppering his jaw with tiny, light kisses. Marcus couldn't help but tilt his head backwards as Abby's lips shifted down and brushed his Adam's apple, his eyes falling closed.

"God, I've missed you," she murmured against his skin, trailing her lips torturously down his neck.

Marcus gathered all of his self-control to open his mouth. "I feel like an idiot for objecting, but this is hardly platon—"

Abby took a soft nip at his collarbone and the words died on his lips.

* * *

After they ended up naked and sweaty in each other's arms, they mutually agreed that they far better off as more than friends. They celebrated this decision with another round, and another, and another until the morning broke and Marcus absolutely had to rise up from the bed, no matter how inviting Abby's body looked sprawled on the sheets.

"Where are you going?" she purred, teasing the hem of his shirt with her fingers while he tried to button it up.

"I need to get something that's not wrinkled beyond repair to wear at the clan meeting. And alas, all my clothes are at my bunk."

Abby fell silent at that, her hand dropping down.

"You didn't leave anything here?" she asked, an incredulous pitch in her voice.

"Why would I have? It's yours and the baby's room now, not mine."

Abby rose up on her knees, an irritated expression on her face.

"Marcus, did you seriously think that I would have just accepted this room from you and never let you back in? Of course I would've let you live with me once the baby was born!"

Marcus turned around with a smirk on his face. "Would you have let me share your bed?"

Abby turned a little pink at the words. "The mattress on the floor is very impractical in the long run..." she tried.

"So we would've been just platonic bed partners, I see," he said, rising up. "Just like last night," he whispered and managed to evade the pillow Abby flung at him which hit the door with a thump.

"Be careful before I revoke the boyfriend status you just got back," she threatened, and as a response, Marcus blew her a kiss. He felt happy in a bold, carefree way and he was not sure if it was because he was still drunk from her kisses or if it was just light-headedness because of the lack of sleep.

The very same day he packed up his stuff from his bunk and carried the box of his belongings towards the room he now shares with Abby.

"Come in," Abby called through the door with a velvety voice, and when he opened the door and peeked in, she was already lying on the bed, wearing nothing but his grey jacket and a smirk on her face. Marcus let out a sound that resembled more of a growl than any human word before he slammed the box down, locked the door and sank into Abby's arms.

If he had ever thought nothing could beat the time they shared in Polis, Abby managed to prove him wrong, multiple times a day for the next few weeks.

It was good to be home again.

* * *

Abby made him give up his guard duty while they were in bed. She was making surprisingly convincing arguments but that might have been because she was currently straddling him, her honey brown curls falling over her shoulders, barely covering her naked chest.

"I don't want to keep stitching you up. You're going to be a family man, so no more punching troublemakers."

"That was one time," Marcus sighed before Abby presses a kiss on his lips, smiling, trying to melt his resistance. "And I did it for you," he stubbornly continued which makes Abby roll her eyes.

"No more picking fights," she ordered. "I will kill you if you get yourself killed just before the baby is born."

"I wouldn't want that," Marcus chuckled.

"Your Chancellor duties and your tree tending are already enough," she sighed. "I feel like I hardly see you."

"I could say the same about you. You spend more time with your pager than me."

"Perhaps I'll replace you with my pager if you keep breaking up fights," Abby retorted.

Marcus wrapped his hands around her waist, smiling. "Look at us, we already sound like a married couple," he quipped and immediately regrets it as a silence fell over the room.

Abby watched him with one eyebrow quirked. Marcus mirrored the gesture, and for a while, they just stared each other, not daring to voice what they were both thinking.

It was ridiculous, they had only been back together for a couple of weeks, and now the thought of marriage was annoyingly prodding Marcus' mind. But when he looked at Abby, it didn't look like she was fighting the idea very much either.

They let the moment slip away but Marcus kept coming up with similar kind of quips during the next few weeks. If anyone would ask, his reasons were purely experimental.

* * *

Marcus liked to think himself of a man who planned ahead. But whatever great, long-term strategies he had for wooing Abby fly out of his head the instant he stopped one day to observe her from the doorway of their little home.

Even on the Ark, he had considered Abby startlingly beautiful. So much so that every once in a while Marcus had to force himself to look away from her, clenching his jaw in annoyance that she had such an effect on him.

But the sight of her on her tiptoes on a stool, trying to reach something from the top shelf, her hair unbrushed and flowing wildly over her shoulders, legs bare, her shirt riding up to reveal the swell of her belly, was something he wanted to brand on his eyelids forever.

This was what he wants to come home to, every day from here to eternity.

"Marry me," he whispered.

Abby flinched at the sudden voice, and turned her head towards Marcus. Her expression relaxed when she saw him, and she brushed off a strand that had fallen over her eyes. "Oh, I didn't notice you there. What did you say?"

Marcus just shook his head, smiling.

Seeing her lips curve into a questioning frown seemed just to solidify the decision in his head. She was everything he had never even dared to wish for, and he would be a damned fool not to grab this precious thing they had with both hands and never let go.

Marcus walked over to the stool she was standing on and wrapped his hands around Abby's waist, smiling. He pressed his lips to her stomach before looking up at her. A soft smile started playing on Abby's lips as she brought down her hand to gently stroke Marcus' cheek. In response, he buried his head in her chest and Abby let out a faint laugh, before sliding her fingers into his hair and starting to caress his head with affectionate strokes. His eyes fell closed at the loving touch and for a while he just breathed her in, and it was dizzying and halted his breath because she was  _here_ , and she loved him.

"Marry me," he repeated, his voice a fragile, small thing.

Abby blinked.

"Marcus—"

"I know that I'm asking too soon. But it doesn't have to be tomorrow, next week or anywhere in the near future. Just promise me that one day you'll be my wife."

A radiant smile broke on her face. "I've been expecting for you to ask me that."

Marcus furrowed his forehead. "Really?"

"You've had a certain look in your eyes for weeks. I knew it was only a matter of time," she laughed. When Marcus kept staring at her expectantly, Abby lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, you're waiting for my answer."

She feigned deep consideration for a moment, rubbing her jaw and knotting her brow. Just when Marcus started to grow restless, she finally opened her mouth with a smirk on her face. "Okay."

Before Marcus could chide her for holding him in suspense for so long, Abby cut him off.

"I'll marry you right now if you want to."

Marcus' mouth was left hanging open. He hadn't anticipated that kind of an answer.

Abby noticed his expression and shrugged. "Why bother waiting when I already know that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you?"

"I don't even have a ring I could give you. I'm not sure who can even marry us." He let go of her waist. "I should've given this more thought."

"It's okay, Marcus. Do we really need to a stamp in some dusty document, a word from a priest and a couple of rings to get to call each other husband and wife?" she chuckled. "I think we can make up some new rules."

He scrunched his brow in deep concentration at the words.

"Hold that thought," he said, and slowly retreated out of the door, leaving Abby on the stool, confused.

* * *

When he came back home late at night with a weary smile on his face, he just crawled beside Abby without speaking a word of the whole proposal. Abby looked at him quizzically after they finish making love that night, but still Marcus didn't speak, just played with a strand of her hair with a content smile on his face.

He didn't bring up the whole thing for two weeks until they were sitting on the floor of their room on one Sunday morning, eating breakfast. Only then Marcus set two pins between them with a slight smile on his face. Abby quirked one puzzled brow at them.

"Are those—?"

"They are. The last two surviving Councillor's pins. Salvaged from the ruins of Arkadia."

Abby took one in her hands with a look of wonder in her eyes. "God, it's been so long since I last wore this. It seems like a lifetime ago."

She fiddled with the pin and flashed Marcus a mirth-filled look. "Councillor," she said, mimicking the curt voice she had used to address the man she knew as Kane. But the memories brought into his mind by the title were not painful like usually when he looked back on the man he used to be. Now he just felt a strange sense of nostalgia crash over him. For a moment he was back on the hallways of Ark, chasing after his co-Councillor in a vain hope of finding out what the stubborn woman had been scheming that time.

"Councillor," Marcus nodded back but couldn't feign coldness into his voice. The word came out as a gentle caress as if he had just used a name of endearment. Abby smilded down at her lap and lowered the pin back on the floor.

"Is there a reason you brought these to me?" she asked.

Marcus opened his mouth, but then decisively closed it. He grabbed the pin, and with a nervous smile on his face, he moved closer to Abby. When he was right in front of her, he gingerly grasps the lapel of her jacket, his thumb brushing over the fabric, his mouth drawn into a hesitant line.

"Since I couldn't find any rings..."

Abby blinked.

"What are you saying?"

Marcus didn't answer at first, just dug up a piece of paper from his pocket with his other hand and handed it over to Abby.

"This is the most official marriage license I could get," he said as Abby laughed at Octavia's stiff penmanship. It had taken some time to get the girl convinced to write him this note, and she had eventually done so while rolling her eyes and muttering "ridiculous"

_You two can marry._

_\- Octavia Blake_

Before Abby had time to open her mouth and express her opinion, Marcus held his finger up, gesturing her to be patient while he rolled up his sleeve. Abby's eyes widened as her eyes caught the sight of another brand next to the Skaikru sigil.

"Apparently you need a specific kind of a mark if you wish to officiate weddings. With a little persuasion and a promise of extra rations I got one nice Trishanakru gentleman to brand my arm," he said, grimacing at the memory. "It hurt like hell, but I think we are ready to go now."

"Marcus, you didn't need to—"

"There's a certain joy of doing this properly, don't you think? Or at least, as close to properly as possible," he chuckled, and Abby just shook her head at him.

"You really do go the extra mile," she sighed with a soft smile on her face.

"Only for you," Marcus smirked. "Marry me?"

"Right now?"

"Right now."

* * *

Marcus cleaned away their dishes while Abby switched on her best piece of clothing, a faded, blue maternity dress she had gotten from a woman as a gift for treating her son. He settled on the floor to enjoy the view of her sliding the dress on her body.

"You're beautiful," Marcus smiled as she took off her hairband and let her her hair tumble down on her shoulders.

"Don't you want to switch clothes too?" She asked, lowering herself in front of him; her bent knees settling themselves against the insides of his thighs. Marcus immensely enjoyed this proximity, having a direct view of her plunging neckline.

"I'm good," he sayed. He wouldn't move from this place for the world, especially now that Abby's hands clasped around his neck.

"Shall we start?"

"Alright," Marcus said and cleared his throat. "Abby, ever since I met you—"

"So you have a whole long speech prepared, huh?"

"Early draft was 18 pages," he teased, and she let out an airy laugh. Just then it hit him that they're really doing this. He was actually marrying the love of his life. It felt a bit surreal. Not too long ago Abby couldn't even look at him without a scowl on her face.

"I'll give you the gist," he said, suddenly embarrassed. "Before you, my life was a static line. I did my duty, ate and slept, and never wished for anything more. I intended to die as the same empty shell I had been all my life. Nobody but this annoying woman in the council—

Abby laughed again.

"—could ignite any sort of a fire inside me. At first, I thought I only hated you with burning passion, but I guess nothing is quite so simple. Your friendship was what made me realize that I could never go back to what I was before. My life peaked the moment your lips brushed my cheek, but somehow, it has gotten even better. You have painted my world vibrant with your smile and quite frankly, worth living in. You saved me, and I'd like to spend the rest of my life returning the favor."

Abby watched him with her warm brown eyes as Marcus lifted up the pin to the strap of her dress.

"Instead of this pin reminding you of what we used to be like, I'd like it to represent how far we have come. When I see it, I think about how maddeningly impossible love can truly be."

Marcus lifted his gaze and offered Abby a tentative smile. "Do you take me?"

"Yes," Abby breathed, no hesitation in her voice.

While Marcus secured the pin in its place, Abby watched him with her chin held up high. The only difference from an actual council nomination ceremony was the fact that Abby's eyes were burning with a dark look that was hardly appropriate to direct to a colleague. When he pulled back, Abby grabbed his shoulders and tried to draw him into a kiss. Marcus evaded her lips just in time.

"Not yet. The kiss is at the end, remember?" he chuckled.

"Marcus, we're crouched down on our bedroom floor on Sunday morning, this hardly needs to be treated as an official ceremony."

"No, we're doing this properly," he insisted, handing her the other pin.

Abby sighed. "Let's get on with it then."

"It's your turn, so whenever you're ready."

Abby started turning the pin in her hands, hesitating.

"I don't really have a speech prepared, this was quite unexpected," she chuckled. "I don't have anything that would top what you said. I guess I just want to thank you."

"For what?"

"For existing, loving me, and most importantly, not letting me go," she said, smiling while she fastened the pin on his shirt. "I didn't think I'd be so lucky to find love twice. The universe generally doesn't give you that good odds. And now I get to have the child of the man who is going to be the most wonderful father—"

Marcus interrupted her by wrapping his hands around her. "I don't need any more convincing. I take you. Just tell me I may kiss the bride."

"Who's being impatient now?" Abby teased before granting her permission with a nod. Marcus promptly captured her lips.

It didn't take long for him to sweep her into his arms and carry her to their bed to "seal the deal" as Abby put it while tugging off his shirt. At that Marcus laughed so hard his eyes watered and he was barely able to relieve her of her dress and make her officially his wife.

* * *

Later when they lay on the bed, exhausted, Marcus entwined their hands and let promises of future tumble between his lips.

"I'll build you a house," he breathed into her hair. "A red cottage like in the old Earth videos. It will have big corridors where our little daughter can run around, and carpets everywhere on the floor so that she won't fall and scrape her knee and make you so worried."

"So we're still sure it's going to be a girl," Abby smiled.

"And of course there'll be a garden we'll tend together. I'll plant it full of roses so I can slip one into your curls every day."

"Now you are just trying to charm me off my pants," she laughed and Marcus leaned to give her a soft kiss. Abby seized his face in her hands and answered the kiss, smiling against his lips.

"And Clarke will have her own room," he continued after parting with Abby. Her expression became more serious at the words, and Marcus reached to caress the crinkles forming in the corners of her mouth. "When she comes back."

"When she comes back," Abby repeated.

Saying it aloud seemed to bring the vision at least a little bit closer to fulfillment.

* * *

Marcus was in the middle of an important clan meeting when it happened. Miller stormed in just as Marcus was offering his opening arguments for the reformation of the bunker food supply system.

"Chancellor Kane—" he tried.

"Not now, Nathan," Kane said calmly. "Whatever it is, we can talk about it later. As I was saying—"

Miller laid his hand on Marcus' shoulder. "I truly believe that you want to hear what I have to say."

"What could possibly be more pressing than our food rationing plan for the next four years?" Marcus said, shooting him a glare. "Come see me after the meeting."

He turned back to Octavia. "Let me start over again—"

"Your wife has gone into labor," the man said quickly before Marcus could interrupt him again.

Marcus froze. Every muscle in his body shut down, and only his mind was left running, trying to slowly process Miller's words.  
  
The men and women seated at the table started smiling at each other and chuckling at his slack expression.

"Congratulations," Octavia grinned. "I guess you're dismissed from this meeting."

"I thought it wouldn't be for another three weeks," Marcus managed to choke out, rubbing his forehead.

"You should get going," Indra said, nudging him, and that finally woke him up from his trance.  
  
Marcus rose from his seat slowly, his legs feeling surprisingly shaky as he started making his way out of the meeting room. Only after he had made it outside he started jogging towards the medical, and the people who passed him offered him encouraging smiles. He wondered if his pale face was a tell-tale sign of a father-to-be."

The closer he got, more clearly he could distinguish Abby's cries and faster his pace got until he was running, hardly daring to breathe until he reached the medical.

He followed Abby's voice to the back-room. He slammed the door open and was greeted by the sight of crying Abby, Niylah patting a cloth on her forehead, whispering comforting words while Jackson examined Abby.

"The baby is a bit premature," Jackson explained to Marcus' horrified face. "But everything is fine, just sit down and—"

Abby let out a shattering scream as another contraction hit her.

"Can't you see she's in pain?" Marcus cut Jackson off. "Do something!"

"That's a rather normal part of childbirth," Jackson muttered. "We don't have epidural in the bunker but—"

"You don't even have epidural?" Marcus yelled at him.

At this point, Niylah deemed that Marcus needed more calming down than Abby. She sat him down beside Abby and tried to calmly explain everything Jackson was doing to his wife. Unfortunately, Marcus wasn't to able to focus on her words as Abby's hand wraps his own into a death-grip the minute he got close enough to her.

It took 14 long hours, a lot of sweat and tears and one crushed hand to bring their baby girl pink and screaming into the world. Niylah wrapped her in a soft towel and went to clean her up while Marcus and Abby pressed their foreheads together, their breaths shallow but expressions blissful.

"You did it," Marcus murmured.

"In 19 years you forget painful this is," she exhaled. "But it's truly worth every single second."

She unwrapped her fingers from around his. "Sorry about your hand."

"It's nothing," Marcus said. "Just don't ask me to write anything. At least for a year."

Abby let out a smile that would've been a laugh if she had the energy to muster one.

Jackson released a deep sigh, slumping against the wall. His forehead was slick with sweat, he had dark bags under his eyes, and he didn't seem to be able to stop from shaking.

"14 hours of labor, no epidural, the baby trying to come to the world feet first, and still I managed to get that screaming bundle of joy out, perfectly healthy and beautiful as her mother. I feel like I deserve a—"

Before Jackson could even finish Marcus had walked over to him and wrapped the man in a suffocating embrace. Only a muffled whimper was able to escape from his throat as Marcus clutched him and let out a throaty, relieved laugh that knew no bounds. Jackson gave him an awkward tap on the back before he released him but couldn't help but let a small smile break out on his face as he watched the radiant face of the father. "Thank you," Marcus mouths over and over again, slowly retreating back to Abby's side, and Jackson only waved his hand in a nonchalant gesture.

"It was nothing, really," he said, stumbling a bit, then taking support from the wall. "My legs are just slightly wobbly."

"I'm proud of you," Abby said with a weary smile on her face. Marcus sat on the chair next to her bed and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

"You should be," Jackson said, regaining his composure. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go change my clothes and get a drink. A strong one."

As Jackson stumbled out, Niylah emerged from behind a curtain, carrying the swaddled baby in her arms.

"She's a quiet one," Niylah smiled.

This was the first good look Marcus gets at his daughter, and he didn't know if it was the stress or the pure astonishment that made him clutch the arms of his chair until his knuckles turned white, a sudden lump forming in his throat and making it hard to breathe.

"Bring her to me," Abby said with her weak, but happy voice, her features shining with the exhausted bliss of a new mother. Niylah walked over to her, and Marcus remained frozen as she lowered the perfect little creature in his wife's arms. The baby started fussing a little at the change of embrace, letting out a tiny whimper, which at the same time broke and mended Marcus' heart. Abby just smiled, pulling her daughter closer and rocking her in her arms until her little lashes closed and her head fell against her chest.

"She's our daughter," Abby whispered to Marcus, who still found himself unable to do anything except stare at the pink miracle whose head Abby was caressing with tears brimming in her eyes.

"Come here," Abby said and patted the place beside her on the bed as she saw his unsure expression. Marcus hesitantly lowered himself on the mattress, and Abby shifted with the baby in her arms to give him room. His head settled next to hers on the pillow, and they both fell silent as they watched their child with drowsy smiles on her faces.

Abby let out a yawn.

"Take her," she said softly. "You should get to hold your daughter."

"Oh no, I don't even know how—"

But the baby was already in his arms.

"Hold her head gently," she advised, guiding Marcus' hand to cup the back of her head. "Put your other arm under, just like that. There, perfect."

The baby had opened her eyes in the process and watched with her big, brown eyes how Marcus tried to hold her as carefully as possible, not daring to move a muscle. She kept staring at him, and Marcus held his breath in anticipation of the first furious cry at the strange man holding her.

"Just take her back, I'm going to make her cry," he said quickly, panic overwhelming him.

Abby just smiled and pressed her head against his shoulder. "You're doing wonderful, love."

Marcus glanced at her and noticed her lashes fluttering shut. "Don't fall asleep," he pleaded. "I don't know what to do."

But Abby's breathing had already evened out into soft, sleepy huffs.

"Abby," Marcus whispered frantically as the baby began to whimper and squirm. "She's breaking out of the swaddle." Marcus desperately hushed her as the baby lets out heartbreaking little cries, her arms wriggling free. Marcus didn't know what to do. He cradled her against his chest with his other arm, while trying to stop her little hands from beating the air with the another. When he gently grasped her hand, something life-changing happens. The baby's tiny fingers instinctively wrapped around his finger.

He watched, breathless, how the baby immediately calmed down, releasing a final, soft yawn before curling up against him.

Marcus felt tears filling up his eyes. He gazed down at his daughter with misty vision, his breathing shaky.

"You're mine," he said out loud, his voice full of bewilderment. How could this be real, what had he ever done to deserve this?

He studied the tuft of brown hair on her head, her little button nose, and smiled at the way her soft puffs reminds him of Abby's snore. She was beautiful in every way, and he couldn't attribute a single perfect feature to him. It had to be all Abby.

"I'm your dad," he said, his voice starting to quiver. "I love you so much."

He watched his wife and their daughter with unbearable love seeping out of his heart which threatened to escape in the form of tears. He slung his arm around Abby's sleeping form, pulling her close to press a soft kiss on her forehead. "And this is mom," he whispered.

He lifted his head and let his gaze wander on the grey walls of the room. "This is the bunker. Not the most fun place to live, I know, darling."

He took a deep breath, wiping his suddenly damp cheeks with his sleeve. "But as long as I have you two here, it's home."

The fluorescent lights above them flickered, and Marcus let his eyes fall closed, a smile on his face.

"And I'd never want to be anywhere else."


End file.
